Nativity (detail) 1475

Curator: Standing here before Piero della Francesca's "Nativity (detail)" from around 1475, now at the National Gallery in London, one can't help but feel grounded by the palpable quiet. What strikes you first? Editor: Honestly? The singers look like they could use some boots. The juxtaposition of their ethereal beauty with those bare feet firmly planted on what looks like pretty rough terrain creates an interesting dissonance. Curator: Dissonance indeed! Della Francesca had such a keen understanding of tempera. It enabled this very particular opacity, creating this kind of dream-like, solidified world. The medium really supports that slightly odd spatial arrangement. Editor: And think about the expense and labour involved! Tempera required meticulous grinding and mixing of pigments. Egg yolks provided the binding. Each colour layered carefully upon the wood panel. This wasn't just artistic vision; this was a whole material operation! The raw materials sourced and made precious. Curator: I see these are angels made from humble materials, singing an offering into that broken architectural space, into our own broken world really. It makes me ponder about all this care taken with precious raw materials during that particular time. And that landscape... the subtle layering feels infinite. Editor: The landscape is so stylized, though, isn't it? Almost stage-set-like, a backdrop for this precise choreography of bodies and instruments. Were those instruments, specifically those lutes, crafted nearby? Do you think della Francesca may have sketched them directly from life, maybe going down to a Florentine musical shop to observe it all himself? Curator: Perhaps, or maybe relied on existing patterns. What really captivates me are their faces – they're all distinct but strangely familiar. Each looks to possess a kind of contained ecstasy, and all directed towards this sleeping babe. There is that tension again—intimacy and distance merged so elegantly. Editor: Thinking about his workshop, about the assistants grinding pigments and preparing panels, brings me closer to grasping the value invested in a piece like this. Knowing it involved not just inspiration, but this intense investment of labour makes the gold accents gleam a little brighter for me. Curator: Ultimately, I see how these raw materials become more precious—imbued with reverence through his application, reminding me, like the best art does, of what connects us all. Editor: Agreed. And to consider all the people whose hands shaped the materials before they even reached the artist… Now that's humbling.